Green cleaning doesn’t have to require a lot of products. Most things can be cleaned with baking soda or vinegar. It can save you money and is safer for your family.
When it comes to being green, the one thing we can’t forget about is cleaning products. Too often we just pick whatever name brand we know off the shelf and use that. However, there are some alternatives you can begin to use that are not only environmentally friendly, but cost effective to boot.
Specifically, I’m talking about baking soda and vinegar as two of the top green cleaning products you can use. Both are extremely effective in how they’re used. Hopefully this article will convince you to give these products a look next time you’re out shopping for cleaning supplies.
Baking Soda
Baking soda has many uses beyond just simple cooking because as it turns out, baking soda is a pretty amazing cleaning product. Primarily as a cleaning product, baking soda works in multiple ways such as a cleaner for appliances like ovens, coffee makers, and can even polish silverware. Outside of the kitchen, baking soda can be used on shower curtains and even as a laundry detergent. One of the best things about using baking soda is that it works as a deodorizer, which helps get rid of many unwanted smells around the house such as in garbage disposals and many types of drains.
There are also a variety of ways that baking soda can be fused with other homemade cleaning products that you may have around the house. For example, using baking soda with toothpaste forms a white ring remover that is great for furniture or antiques. Another great way to use baking soda is to combine it with water so that it can effectively stay on a sponge like regular soap. This allows you to scrub stove tops and the inside of microwaves easily and baking soda doesn’t leave behind any smell, so it’s a pretty easy clean up.
Baking soda also helps carpets out and is able to get out stains with ease. If you spill a drink or say a pet has an accident, using some baking soda, usually in tandem with vinegar, will help take out that stain with ease. If you use just baking soda to scrub out the stain, it won’t leave nearly the same strong scent that vinegar leaves behind. You can also use the same combination to polish pots and pans and help get rid of tarnish, but even baking soda by itself should be able to get the job done.
Because it’s so easy to buy, and cheap at that, baking soda is by far one of the best cleaning products available, plus it’s great for the environment. Its versatility makes it one of the better options out there and if you buy it in bulk that will save you in the long run since you won’t have to worry about getting different products for different messes. Not to mention, baking soda is one of the greenest cleaning products that you can use, so I would highly recommend it if you are deciding between a regular name brand or a newer and cheaper method of cleaning.
Vinegar
Much like baking soda, vinegar is thought to be a kitchen or even food first item. Vinegar is a much more potent cleaning product as it gets your sinuses working, but is extremely effective for areas like drains or wherever there may be clogs. Instead of using name brand drain cleaners, which ultimately put more wear and tear on your drain, try vinegar instead as it can be easy purchased at a supermarket and like baking soda, is relatively cheap.
Vinegar is great for getting out bacteria and stains across all parts of your home. In fact, if you mix vinegar with rubbing alcohol and tea tree oil, this will create a spray that easily gets rid of mildew and odors for the most part. Vinegar can also be combined with olive oil and lemon if you’re looking to polish furniture, specifically wood such as tables or chair, or even the handrail of stairs should they be wooden. Basically, if you do use vinegar, you’ll want to use it on particular surfaces as it can’t work on areas like granite or marble countertops, hardwood floors, and even certain types of stains and spills on the carpet.
However, vinegar is versatile like baking soda in that it can also be used in appliances, but it a much different way. With baking soda, you can scrub or let it sit to clean an oven for example, but vinegar, it becomes a little more involved. If you want to clean your coffee maker, you’ll have to run the vinegar through the coffee maker in order to clean it. Unlike baking soda, vinegar typically doesn’t stay stagnant in the area it’s trying to clean.
Still though, I recommend using vinegar as a major alternative to many name brand products out there. Vinegar works well with drains, floors, and even windows so it can be used all around the house. One thing to keep in mind though is that is that vinegar does have a bit of a lingering smell, so be sure to open a window or keep a fan running when cleaning with it. Also, you’ll want to remember that while vinegar can work in some of the same areas as baking soda, it ultimately works better with drains, repelling tarnish, and even some surface work.
I hope that this article was able to help you with more of an understanding about natural and green cleaning products. While the convenience of using a store bought cleaner for the oven, floor, or window is nice, they’re not always eco-friendly, plus they always end up costing a bit more, especially if it’s a name brand product. So if you want to save yourself some time, money, and a little of the environment all in one go, try some natural cleaning products such as baking soda and vinegar. You’ll be surprised with how well these work and I can fully endorse using both of them.
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- Green Cleaning: Baking Soda and Vinegar - May 11, 2017
Sammy Dolan says
Thanks for allowing me to write for your blog! If anyone has any questions, just give me a shout.